Source: “The Parting Of The Gods: Paul And The Redefinition Of Judaism**”**, By David Allen Brondos, 2021
This podcast explores how Paul redefined God's will for believers in Christ, shifting the emphasis from the Mosaic Law to Christ and the Gospel. While Jewish tradition saw the Torah as the definitive expression of God's will, Paul argued that Christ now stands as the ultimate revelation, fulfilling and transcending the Law. The text details how the Law served as a "paidagōgos" (guardian), holding sin in check and leading people to Christ, but ultimately could not produce genuine love or liberate from sin. Therefore, for Paul, salvation and righteousness come through faith in Christ, leading to a community defined by self-giving love rather than strict legal adherence. Jewish believers might continue to observe the Law, but gentile believers were explicitly discouraged from adopting it, as doing so would be a return to "slavery" rather than embracing the freedom found in Christ.
Topic 1: Paul's Redefinition of God's Will and the Centrality of Christ Paul's understanding of God's will fundamentally shifts from the traditional Jewish view. While Jews in antiquity generally believed the Torah, given through Moses, was the ultimate and definitive expression of God's will, Paul comes to the conviction that God has now made his will known definitively through Christ. This means that when Paul exhorts believers, he bases his instructions on what he believes about Christ, rather than solely on Torah commandments. This conviction forced Paul to redefine not only the understanding of God's will but also the very purpose for which the Torah was given. God's ultimate plan, according to Paul, revolved around Christ, aiming to conform human beings to Christ's image and to form a family or community where Christ would be the "firstborn." This community is open to all people, not just Israel. For Paul, the core values and principles of God's will, such as love, kindness, and compassion, are now defined through Christ and the gospel centered on him, rather than the Torah alone. This view places Christ in a transcendent role, often contrasting him with the Torah, even suggesting Christ's preexistence.
Topic 2: The Nature and Interpretation of the Torah in Second Temple Jewish Thought In Jewish thought, the Torah is understood as much more than just a set of laws or commandments; it includes significant narratives from which ethical principles are derived and considered normative for behavior. For example, Paul himself draws ethical lessons from Genesis (Abraham's faith) and the Israelites' sins in the desert. During the Second Temple period, the text of the Torah and its oral interpretations were somewhat fluid, leading to considerable debate and disagreement regarding its proper observance. The Torah's inherent ambiguities often required interpretation to discern God's will, as seen in questions about Sabbath observance or what constituted a violation. This flexibility extended to situations where one might need to "disobey" one commandment to observe another deemed more important or "weighty," such as breaking the Sabbath to perform circumcision or priestly duties. This highlights that obedience to the Torah was not always a strict literal adherence but could involve flexible interpretations based on circumstances and underlying principles.
Topic 3: Core Values and Principles Underlying God's Commandments Across Second Temple Judaism, there was a universal recognition that core values and principles underpinned all the commandments and narratives of the Torah. These commonly acknowledged values included faith and trust in God, love for God and others, and the practice of justice, righteousness, compassion, forgiveness, and solidarity with those in need. This idea was not unique to Judaism, as ancient societies generally believed their laws were based on similar core values. However, a potential problem arose when people focused on observing commandments as an end in itself, neglecting or forgetting these deeper values and principles. Such an approach might lead to the belief that God's mandates were arbitrary, or that strict observance could earn God's favor and blessings.
Topic 4: God's Unconditional Love and Grace The Jewish and biblical tradition strongly guarded against the idea that human beings could influence God or coerce him to grant favors through their actions. God's sovereignty and omnipotence meant he did not need anything from humanity. Instead, God made it clear that he was pleased by the practice of justice, righteousness, mercy, kindness, and solidarity with others. This meant that true fulfillment of God's commands had to be an expression of sincere love for God and others; actions motivated purely by selfishness or self-interest would provoke God's anger. A crucial aspect is the stress on God's grace and unconditional love for his people, implying that his favor was a gift that could not be merited or earned. Whether God blessed or disciplined his people, it was always an expression of his love and for their best interest. Obedience could not earn his love, nor could disobedience end it; rather, it determined the form his love would take (blessing or corrective chastisement).
Topic 5: The Law's Purpose as a "Paidagōgos" and Revealer of Sin Paul offers a specific understanding of the law's purpose. If the law cannot bring about the desired way of life (true love and righteousness), it must serve another function. Paul suggests the law was "added on account of transgressions" and served as a paidagōgos, a Greek term meaning "child-conductor," guardian, or disciplinarian. In this role, the law confined and restrained people, holding sin in check until the coming of Christ. It made transgressions known, allowing sins to be recognized, and guided behavior. Like a paidagōgos, the law motivated obedience through promises of blessings for compliance and threats of punishments for disobedience, creating a state of constant compulsion and constraint. This confinement, while perhaps leading to outward conformity, also had the paradoxical effect of awakening and strengthening the desire to sin by explicitly prohibiting certain actions. Paul also connects the law to wrath, suggesting it functions as a basis for punishing wrongdoing in the present world, and "the power of sin is the law."
Topic 6: Justification by Faith Versus Works of the Law A central tenet of Paul's thought is his insistence that "no one will be justified before God through the law" or by "works of the law." He explicitly states that justification comes "by faith independently of works of the law." Paul argues that if righteousness came through the law, then Christ's death would have been in vain. He contends that the law was incapable of enabling its just requirements to be fulfilled in human beings. Paul contrasts those who base their lives on "works of the law" with those who live "out of faith." The former proceed from the law's prescriptions and promises, living a confined, earned existence similar to a child under a paidagōgos. True righteousness, for Paul, is a gift given through Christ and the faith associated with him, not something attainable through adherence to legalistic requirements.
Topic 7: The Law's Incapacity to Produce Sincere Love Paul's understanding emphasizes that genuine love, being something that originates from the heart, cannot be legislated or produced by commandments. While laws can regulate conduct and prevent destructive behavior, they cannot compel sincere, heartfelt, and committed love. People must desire to love and be drawn to love, and this requires them to first experience true love themselves. The law, with its system of rewards and punishments, motivates behavior based on self-interest and fear rather than genuine affection. For Paul, God's ultimate objective was to bring human beings to be conformed to the image of his Son, reflecting his sacrificial love. This transformative love, fully manifested in Christ's self-giving and death, went beyond what the law could achieve. It was God's unreserved love shown through Christ that could draw people to live in the same kind of love, forming a community defined by it.
Topic 8: The Law's Role in the Lives of Jewish Believers (Freedom vs. Enslavement) Paul does not teach that Jewish believers in Christ should abandon the Mosaic law. Instead, he draws a crucial distinction between observing the law and being enslaved to it. For Jewish believers, their observance of the law is to be an act of freedom, guided by their conscience, the Holy Spirit, the "law of Christ," and what is most beneficial for others and the promotion of the gospel. This means they are free to be flexible with strict literal observances, especially when fellowship with gentile believers or gospel promotion requires it. Paul himself exemplifies this flexibility, stating he is "free in relation to all people" and adapts his practice (e.g., becoming "as a Jew to Jews" or "as one under the law to those under the law") for the sake of winning others, without being "under the law" in an enslaving sense. He affirms the law's value in revealing sin and witnessing to God's righteousness, implying that for Jewish believers, the law can be observed without being burdensome or a means to earn favor. "Dying to the law" for Jewish believers means dying to their former relationship with it as a controlling paidagōgos, not abandoning its observance entirely.
Topic 9: Paul's Rejection of Gentile Observance of the Mosaic Law While Jewish believers might continue to observe the Mosaic law, Paul strongly rejects the idea that gentile believers in Christ should submit fully to it, including circumcision. For Paul, for gentiles to subject themselves to the Mosaic law would be to return to a state of enslavement or bondage. He equates it with returning to the "weak and beggarly elemental things" or a "yoke of slavery" that characterized their previous existence when they worshipped other gods. Paul views such submission as negating their freedom in Christ and sees those who pressured gentiles to be circumcised as acting out of self-interest rather than love for the Galatians. He argues that God had already demonstrated his full acceptance of uncircumcised gentiles by pouring out his Spirit upon them through faith alone, making any return to legalistic observance not only senseless but actively detrimental to their new freedom in Christ.
Topic 10: The Community of Believers and Sacrificial Love A fundamental aspect of God's purpose, as understood by Paul, is to form a people or community where all live as one under Christ. This community is defined by the same type of self-giving love exemplified in Christ, a love that is willing to give itself fully, no matter the cost, even to the point of death. Believers are called to be "conformed to the image of his Son," which means reflecting this sacrificial love. Paul frequently exhorts believers to show love, kindness, and compassion, to seek what is in the interests of others, and to build one another up, all modeled after Christ's willingness to give up his life for others. This collective and mutually supportive existence, where individuals are united "in Christ" and live as "one spirit with him," is central to Paul's vision of God's will for humanity. It is this defining characteristic of Christ's love that is to be the hallmark of the new community of believers.